Means for cleaning motor blocks



1940- F. c. AREY ET AL MEANS FOR CLEANING MOTOR BLOCKS Filed May 8, 193,7 3 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 1, 1940. F. c. AREY ET AL MEANS FOR CLEANING MOTOR BLOCKS s Sheets- Sheet 2 Filed May 8, 1957 Oct. 1, 1940. F. c. AREY ET m. 2,216,698

' MEANS FOR CLEANING MOTOR'BLOCKS I Filed May 8', 19:57 3- Sheets-Sheet z Patented Oct. 1, 1940 UNITED STATES 2,216,698 MEANS FOR CLEANING MOTOR BLOCKS Fred G. Arey, Oak Park, Ill., and De Los E. Hibner,

Jr., Du Bois, Pa., assignors to Vulcan Soot Blow-' er Corporation, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 8, 1937, Serial No. 141,484

machined, it is necessary to clean the various passages and interior machined surfaces, so as I to remove the metal chips and the cutting oil. Heretofore, the method has been to employ a lance-like device adapted to discharge a single steam jet; this device having been applied in succession to each passage to be cleaned and the exposed machined surfaces, capable of being 10" reached with the lance, having been swept with the: steam jet issuing, therefrom. This process has been slow, tedious and expensive. The object of the present invention is to make it possible to clean such motor blocks or 15: cylinder blocks rapidly, effectively, and at a cost that is low compared to that of the old practice. Another disadvantage of the old process is that sometimes moisture from condensed steam may remain on some of the machined surfaces,

in the drilled passage, or elsewhere, giving rise to the danger that rust may form. A further objectof the present invention is to avoid this danger by. insuring that any moisture that may remain after the steaming step will be effectively dissipated and the passages and various ma-' chined surfaces be left dry aswell as free from chips and oil.

In carrying out our invention, we provide a seriesof jetting pipes similar to the tubular 30 blowing elements commonly employed for cleaning boiler tubes during the operation of boilers inpower plants; these jetting pipes or blowi elements being supported in the form of a unit into which a motor block may be inserted; and 5 the nozzles or other jet-producing means being so disposed that when a cleaning unit and motor block are assembled, and cleaning fluid is supplied to the unit, jets of cleaning fluid are blown simultaneously into all of the passages and over 40 allofthe surfaces to be cleaned. Among the surfacesto be cleaned are those on the interior of the cylinder walls and the machined surfaces in the space below the cylinders and with which the cylinders communicate. Those blowing ele- 45 ments which are designed to discharge jets into passages may remain in fixed relation to the motor block after assembly; but, for the purpose of cleaning the surfaces last mentioned, and blowing away the chips and oil that are 5 found in or enter the space below the cylinders,

during the cleaning operation, we prefer to provide a rotatable jetting or blowing element which serves to clean out the cylinders and drive the foreign matter out through the ends of the block. We prefer to adapt the cleaning unit g 6 Claims. (01.,141-1) After a motor block or cylinder block has been to discharge either steam jets or jets of air under pressure,'whereby all condensation may .be dissipated and driven off by air jets, while the metal of the block still remains hot from the application of the steam thereto. We there- 5 fore provide the cleaning unit with connections to a source of supply of steam and'to a source of "supply 10fcompressed air, associating therewith suitable controlling means whereby steam and compressed air may be delivered alternately 1o; to the cleaning unit. The cleaning is preferably done within a confined space and, accordingly, the cleaning unit is conveniently mounted ina small casing or housing provided with a suitable closure for the opening through which the block enters and leaves. The casing or housing has'a suitable chimney or outlet conduit for the air and vapor, and there may be a drain opening out of the bottom of the casing or housing through which chips, oil and condensation may be discharged. 7

The various features of novelty wherebyour invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of our invention and of 26 its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken. in connection with the accompanying drawings,

whereinzq- Figure 1 is a side view of a cleaning apparatus embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of that end of the apparatus through which the motor block enters the casing or housing; Fig. 3 is a top plan view, on a larger scale," of the blowing or cleaning unit positioned in cleaning relation to a motor block, a fragment of the stationary end wall of the casing or housing being shown in section; Fig. 4 is a side View: of the parts shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an end view, on a still larger scale, of the assembled 40:

motor blockand cleaning unit, the casing or ho-using'being omitted; Fig. 6 is a view, partly in plan and partly in section, on the same scale as Fig. 5, of the head to which the jetting or .blowing ipipesv or elements are connected and from' which they receive their cleaning fluids; Fig. 7 is a view on a smaller scale than Fig. 5,; showing the steam and air connections to the vertical-pipe atthe righthand side of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is an elevation of a fragment of the rotary jetting element; and Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are sections taken respectively on lines 9.-9, Ill-l0, and H-Il of Fig. 8.. In the drawings we have illustrated an apparatus-"in whichthere are five tubular blowing" elements or jetting pipes, four of them being stationary and one being rotatable; and for the sake of brevity, the detailed description will be confined to this particular embodiment, although the construction is capable of Wide variations.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a motor or engine cylinder block illustrated as having six vertical cylinders a. Secured together at one end in parallel relation to each other, and so spaced apart that the motor block may be inserted lengthwise between them, are four pipes or tubes, l, 2, 3 and 4 provided with nozzles or orifices to discharge jets of steam or compressed air into oil or other passages drilled into the sides of the block from the exterior. These four pipes are connected at one end to a suitable header 5. The header 5 is in turn connected to what may be termed a blower head 6 that may conveniently be of a type commonly used in soot blower apparatus for steam boilers. The head is provided with a tubular projection I whose axis is parallel with the aforesaid jetting pipes, and the header may conveniently rise from this projection of the head. A fifth jetting pipe or blowing element 8 extends into and is rotatable in the part I. The rotation of the element 8 may be effected in any suitable way. In the arrangement shown, it is by means of a manually operated crank 9 connected to one end of a shaft I whose other end extends into a casing II surrounding the blowing element 8 and fixed to the head 6. The driving mechanism for the blowing element 8 is arranged within the casing II and,

" as it is old and well known, no detailed description thereof appears to be necessary. It may be said, however, that if the blowing element is to be turned back and forth instead of being rotated continuously in one direction, the casing Il may contain pawl and ratchet driving mechanism such as illustrated in the Fred C. Arey Patent No. 1,995,197, dated March 19, 1935, whereby the tubular element may be turned step by step through any predetermined angle and be then returned to the starting point, in the same way, without reversing the direction of rotation of the crank.

The blowing element 8 is so disposed with respect to the companion elements I to 4, that when the assembly is made between the motor block and blowing unit, the element 8 extends longitudinally through the space in-the motor block below and into which the cylinders open. The element 8 is provided with a series of nozzles I2, corresponding in number to the crank shaft bearings in the block and arranged in a line extending lengthwise of the element in the same spaced relation to each other as are the said bearings. The partsare so proportioned that, when the motor block and the cleaning unit are assembled, each of the nozzles I2, when the blowing. element 8 is in such angular position that these nozzles are ontop, points directly upward into one of the overhead oil passages leading to the crank shaft bearings. The blowing element 8 may have thereon a pointer I3, or other indicator, which will apprise the operator of the direction in which the nozzles I2 point. For example, if the pointer is standing upright, it indicates that the nozzles are in position to discharge jets up through the oil passages to the crank shaft bearings. The member 8 is also provided with additional nozzles I4 and ii that are inclined, respectively, in opposite directions lengthwise of the pipe oritube, so as to discharge jets that are not radial but diverge in opposite directions lengthwise of the block. These nozzles are so disposed that at the time the nozzles point straight up, a nozzle I4 and a nozzle I are pointing more or less diagonally into the lower end of each of the cylinders in the block. Consequently, if a cleaning fluid is being supplied to the blowing element 8 at this time, two oppositely inclined jets are discharged upward into each cylinder, creating a whirling or vortex effect that causes the cylinder walls to be swept clean. There may also be an additional pair of nozzles I4 and I5 near the free end of the member 8 to clean out the interior of the clutch housing bolted to oneend of the block, as indicated in the drawings.

While we have not illustrated in detail the nozzles on the pipes I to 4, they may take any suitable forms and may, for example, be similar to the nozzle I2 illustrated in Figs. 8 and 10. Furthermore, the pipes I to 4 may be provided with branches or extensions if such be necessary to reach passages that are out of line with the nearest of the pipes. Thus, as shown in Fig. 4, the pipe 3 has three short pipe sections [6, I1 and I8 projecting at right angles therefrom between its ends to provide nozzles off to one side of this pipe, and has also other, shorter projections or branches I9 distributed along the same.

The blower head 8 is supplied with cleaning fluid through a suitable pipe connected to the inlet of the head. The pipe 20 has a vertical section to the upper end of which is connected a pipe 22 in the form of a cross arm. The ends of the pipe 22 are in turn connected to supply pipes 23 and '24 respectively. The pipe 23 may be a steam pipe and the pipe 24 may be connected to a source of supply of compressed air. Each of these two pipes preferably contains a shut-01f valve 25 and, in addition, a valve 26 which controls the actual delivery of air or steam to the head. The valves 26 are shown as having depending operating arms or levers 21 and 28, respectively. The free end of each of these levers is pinned loosely to a block 29 slidably mounted on a long horizontal rod 30 having at one end a handhold 3|. On the rod 30, outwardly from the two blocks 29 are a pair of adjustable collars 32, 32 that limit the distance to which the blocks 29 may spread apart. Surrounding the rod, between the blocks 29, is a compression spring 33. The operating arms or levers 21 and 28 for the valves 25 have limited swinging movements, the limits being determined in any suitable way as, for example, by means of pins or stops 34 on the valve casings.

The parts are so proportioned that normally both of the controlling valves 26 are closed, the arm 21 of the steam valve being at the righthand limit of its swinging movements and the arm or lever 28 being at the lefthand limit, as viewed in Fig. '7. When it is desired to admit steam to the head, the operator grasps the handhold 3| and pushes the rod 30 toward the left until the lever 2? assumes the dotted line position. During this movement of the rod, since the lever 28 cannot swing any farther toward the left, the spring 33 is still further compressed. Consequently, when the operator lets go of the handhold, the spring returns the operating arm of the steam valve to its closed position. If it be desired to admit air into the blower head, the operator pulls on the handhold 3|, swinging the operating arm 28 of the air valve toward the right, while the other arm or lever 2'! remains in its closed or righthand position. Wh'en the handhold is again released, the'- expanding compression spring forces the arm or lever28 'back into its initial, closed position. J Y

i It will thus be seen that we are able not only to admit either steam or air to the blower head for any desired length of time, but to prevent the admission of both steam and air simultaneously. Consequently, after a blowing or cleaning operation on a motor block, with steam, has been completed, the operator need only pull on the controlling rod, the spring assisting him in first closing the steam valve, in'order to-cause jets of compressed air to be delivered from the nozzles while the block'is still hot from the action of the steam thereon; and thus cause any condensed steam that may have collected to be driven away and leave all of the surfaces that were acted on by the steam jets, dry as well as clean.

The jetting or cleaning unit may be mounted on a suitable casing or housing such as shown at 36 in Figs. land 2, preferably with the several jetting pipes extending into the casing through an endwall 31 of the latter. Thus, all of the connections between the pipes, the header, the blower head, and the controlling means lie on the exterior of the casing or housing, only the actual tubular blowing elements lying within the latter. The opposite end of the housing or casing is closed by means of a door 38 that may be slid upward; the door being raised to admit the motor block and permit its removal, and being closed while the cleaning operation is performed. The pipes I, 2, 3 and 4 may be supported from the side walls of the casing or housing by suitable brackets 39, so that they will always remain accurately positioned to bring their nozzles into proper registration with the passages in a block moved into a predetermined position within the casing or housing. The top of the roof of the casing or housing is provided with a flue 40- for the escape of air and steam, while the bottom slopes downwardly from the sides and ends toward the center, as indicated at 4|, and terminates in a drain 42.

Engine blocks resting upon suitable individual beds or bases 43 may be brought to the cleaning station upon anyusual or suitable conveyors, such as indicated at 44 in Fig. 1. Within the casing or housing is a roller conveyor 45 of the proper height to receive a motor block pushed ofi the end of the conveyor 44 while the door 38 is open. On the underside of the bed or base 43 are parallel longitudinal guide rails 46 each lying on the inner side of the upright portion of a stationary L-shaped rail 41 in the bottom of the casing or housing; thereby insuring that the motor block will be accurately located with respect to the longitudinal axis of the casing or housing.

As heretofore, explained, the nozzles in the stationary blowing elements or jetting pipes will always direct their jets to the proper points on the cylinder block when the latter is introduced in the housing or cabinet. However, the rotatable member 8 is permanently supported at one end only, and it is therefore desirable to provide the free end of that member with a temporary support during a cleaning operation, in order to hold it steady. To accomplish this, the free end of the pipe 8 is made more or less pointed, as shown, and each bed or base 43 is provided with a bearing 49 into which the free end of the pipe fits itself when the bed or base is entered into the housing or cabinet.

,--It will thus'be seenthat we have made it possible quickly and completely to remove all oil, chips, etc, from machined cylinder blocks and leave them clean and dry and in theproper condition for the assembly therewith of the other engine or .motor parts.

While we have illustratedand described with particularity only a single-preferred form of our invention, wedo not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of our invention constituting the appended claims.

.- Weclaim:

1. An apparatus for cleaning chips and oil from a multiple-cylinder motor block comprising horizontal jetting pipes supported at one end and so spaced as to be adapted to be positioned along the exterior of the block to deliver jets into various drilled passages in the block when the latter is placed between them, each pipe being provided with orifices each of which is adapted to register with one of the passages in the block, a jetting pipe arranged parallel to the aforesaid pipes and supported at the same end as the latter pipes for rotation about its long axis, the rotatable jetting pipe being so positioned that it is adapted to extend lengthwise of the block through the space below and into which the cylinders open, means to rotate the latter pipe, and means to supply all of said pipes with cleaning fluid under pressure, the rotatable pipe having jetting orifices some of which are radial to the axis of the pipe While others are inclined in opposite directions lengthwise of the pipe, whereby some of the jets are directed lengthwise of the blocks while in certain angular positions of the pipe jets are driven up through each cylinder.

2. An apparatus for cleaning chips and oil from multiple cylinder motor blocks having drilled passages some of which extend from the outer side surfaces into the space in the lower part of the block with which the lower ends of the cylinder bores communicate, which comprises means to blow cleaning fluid inwardly through said passages, and means to discharge jets upwardly from within said space into the cylinder bores and other jets lengthwise of the block through said space and over the surface bounding the latter.

3. An apparatus for cleaning chips and oil from motor cylinder blocks having drilled passages some of which extend from the outer side surfaces into the space in the lower part of the block with which the lower ends of the cylinder bores communicate which comprises jetting pipes adapted. to be positioned beside the cylinder block and to discharge jets of cleaning fluid inwardly throughsaid passages, a rotatable pipe adapted to be inserted in said space in the lower part of the block and provided with means to discharge jets upwardly from within said space into the cylinder bores, and means to rotate said rotatable pipe.

4. An apparatus for cleaning chips and oil from motor cylinder blocks having drilled passages some of which extend from the outer side surfaces into the space in the lower part of the block with which the lower ends of the cylinder bores communicate, which comprises jetting pipes adapted to be positioned beside the cylinder block and to discharge jets of cleaning fluid inwardly through said passages, a rotatable pipe adapted to be inserted in said space in the lower part of the block and provided with means to discharge jets upwardly from within said space into the cylinder bores andvother jets lengthwise of the block through said space and over the surfaces bounding the latter, and means to rotate said rotatable pipe.

5. An apparatus for cleaning chips and oil from multiple cylinder motor blocks having drilled passages some of which extend from the outer side surfaces into the space in the lower part of said block with which the lower ends of the cylinder bores communicate, which comprises parallel pipes, means for supporting said pipes so that one or more is held stationary and extends across the outer end of said passages while another pipe extends through said space and is rotatable therein, said stationary pipe or pipes being provided with jetting means to discharge jets of cleaning fluid into said passages, said rotatable pipe having peripheral jetting means, and means for'rotating said rotatable pipes.

6. An apparatus for cleaning chips and oil from multiple cylinder motor blocks having drilled pas sages some of which extend from the outer side surfaces into the space below the cylinder bores, which comprises means to blow cleaning fluid inwardly through said passages, and rotatable means to discharge jets of cleaning fluid against the surfaces bounding said space and also lengthwise of such space.

FRED C. AREY. DE LOS E. HIBNER, JR. 

